Beauty & the Beast + Blood and guts = Spike

Hard2Kill

Filmmaker Robert Beaucage let loose the scoop that principal photography will commence this March on SPIKE, a horror feature he’ll direct from his own script producers Devin DiGonno and Erik Rodgers. “For years, I’ve wanted to take a fairy tale into the realm of horror,” Beaucage tells us. “ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ as one of the oldest and most beloved fairy tales, seemed like it would be fun to mess with!”

The story centers on Isabel, a woman who, after suffering a blowout in the middle of the mountains, is thrust into conflict with the titular critter. Beaucage will shoot the film in and around Los Angeles, utilizing “16mm film for a gritty, grainy, EVIL DEAD/LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT kind of feel.” Currently location scouting for “unique, labyrinthine forest” locales, the director says that casting is under way right now as well, with “three of the five principals having signed on, including talented newcomer Edward Gusts as Spike.”

Beaucage has previously cut his teeth on numerous shorts, as well as a feature, 2003’s CLOSER TO DEATH, which won Best Director and Best Dramatic Feature at that year’s DIY Film Festival. “That would be more impressive if anyone had ever heard of the DIY Fest,” Beaucage laughs, “but it was my first ‘real’ feature, albeit with a budget for which one could scarcely finance a two-week vacation.” The movie served as an effective calling card, however, showcasing the filmmaker’s proficiency in putting every cent on the screen, and was instrumental in securing funding for SPIKE.

Scheduled for an 18-day shoot and budgeted at less than $1 million, SPIKE will feature makeup FX by artist Jordu (REEKER) Schell. Beaucage met with a wide range of “Effects artists with impressive talent,” he says, “and the process of taking meetings with them in workshops filthy with monsters and gore was an absolute blast.” It was Schell’s proposed approach to the creature at the center of SPIKE, forsaking CGI for more organic, traditional FX, which sold the director. “Schell specializes in photorealism in building creature characters. I don’t want anyone thinking ‘monster suit’ while watching SPIKE; I want them to think, ‘What is that thing?’ “You can’t get much more old-school than Cupid and Psyche, Hades and Persephone or Beauty and the Beast, as well as horror classics such as FRANKENSTEIN and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, all of which inspired me,” Beaucage adds. “I also want to incorporate typical conventions of horror, but spin them in different and unexpected directions to keep the audience off-balance.”

Beaucage explained “If a real-life Beast fell in love with a Beauty in a modern world without magic or enchantments, the resultant events, for all parties concerned, would be nothing short of dreadful.” So far the offical website is not up but as soon as I can find a trailer or pics or any other new I will definately bring it to you guys. The whole idea sounds good to me so keep your eyes out for this one.